[richywilts]

Iv been pondering targeting executive style houses as Im sick to death of effort of chasing round small sums of money and people saying can ya leave it this time on a six weekly schedule. I was thinking of targeting these larger properties for les frequent cleaning but offering gutter clearing,UPC cleaning,conservatory roof cleaning,driveway cleaning and internals and breaking down a figure and get them to pay monthly direct debit instead of shelling out for each seperate job in one go.

Does anyone offer this type of service, it's a bit more of a home maintenance service than window cleaning, I would be planning to offer a much more high class service with set dates,overshoes etc when doing internals,

Suppose it's a bit like home serve the plumbing company but for cleaning requirements

[Erithwc]

Do yourself a favor over the week end think long and hard about what you want from your business then just go for it,
I don't know you personally so don't take offense but from what i have read on this forum you seem to be wasting time and effort running round like a head less chicken : trad only round, purefreedom hot systemns, commercial contracts, cleaning shop ect

[Dave Willis]

No different to small houses in my experience, in fact the bigger they are the worse they seem to be. If you get a £100 job cancel because the weather looks iffy then you'll struggle to fill the gap. £8 job cancels and you've only lost quarter of an hour. Mix and match seems the best way - commercial for the wetter days and gutter cleans, big houses for the drier weather. Poor payers too some of them.
Downsize and dump and get rid of your staff, you should be the highest earner in your company, not the lowest. 

[Small but perfectley formed]

Most of the big homes i do are tight twats ,always a new  car or 3 on the dive tho usually german

[Pope vader]

richy

the best thing you can do is look at ur business and dump the crap and just have you and a lad in 1 van making money,  just do the best jobs and the ones that pay

you are the same as a mate of mine, who every time you meet him he ahs started a new business or is heading in a different direction,  i ahve know him 2 years he has gone form 4 vans, to him on his own,  he has started a proerty maninentance company to run along side his window cleaning business, because a custy asked him did he know a plumber,  that failed,  then then decided to have a commercial arm for the business, all becasue he got 1 contract in cornwall, rented offices, started web sites, etc, didnt get work, as was too expensive,   he then started a van signage business, because he can make 20 k a month,

i know he owes the back 17k business loans, and has only being going 3 years

just stick to one thing

[Window Washers]

richy

the best thing you can do is look at ur business and dump the crap and just have you and a lad in 1 van making money,  just do the best jobs and the ones that pay

you are the same as a mate of mine, who every time you meet him he ahs started a new business or is heading in a different direction,  i ahve know him 2 years he has gone form 4 vans, to him on his own,  he has started a proerty maninentance company to run along side his window cleaning business, because a custy asked him did he know a plumber,  that failed,  then then decided to have a commercial arm for the business, all becasue he got 1 contract in cornwall, rented offices, started web sites, etc, didnt get work, as was too expensive,   he then started a van signage business, because he can make 20 k a month,

i know he owes the back 17k business loans, and has only being going 3 years

just stick to one thing

is that not called Enterprising ?
Maybe he's not happy being a window cleaner and is looking for what does it for him.

I agree with have a focused plan for Richy and a post above about having a mixture of houses is spot on, but you have to give it to Richy at least he try's and sometimes fails(gets unlucky on some things), others on here say it cant work and never try anything then moan when other people make it.

[Nathanael Jones]

I've been thinking along the same lines,.. I reckon it'd be hard to build that type of round if you targeted home owners direct, but if you target executive letting agencies it'd give you a  good start. Once you're in the areas, drop leaflets in the surrounding privately owned houses every time you clean...

[richywilts]

a lot of people on here think i actually start every idea i post on here i dont tho i just sound out ideas and get feedback and make decisions, i know it sounds like im changing my business direction every week but i dont follow much through i just hate wasting time with scummy arse customers which we tend to have a lot of now, when i began 3-4 years ago wfp was a new thing and i did well out of targetting more executive type homes and charging a premium as i was pretty much only guy with nice sign written van uniform etc etc and i looked the part and got away with it, then over the years iv tried to grow using canvassing and now have a round with quite a few idiot customers which i detest one coz im paying the lads to clean them and two coz i paying someone to chase them 2 or 3 times for payment.

i see myself more as enterprising as ian said wfp is pretty much the norm now and i dont want to settle as just a bog standard window cleaning firm i want to me unique and hit a niche market.

i understand people saying these big houses dont pay etc ive never really had a problem with bigger houses more the council type houses where i charge ten quids coz i value my service more than them.

a lot of people are chasing small commercial work and see it as the be all and end all and you have made it in window cleaning, where some of these houses could produce bigger values of work and prob easier to get if you market your service right

[richywilts]

im not looking at selling all my work off to begin this work just looking at having a more professional niche angle to the business and getting rid of crap, as people say these supposedly rich people are tight so this type of direct debit service may appeal to them to keep the maintenance up on there property

[hwcleaning]

It sounds like your business needs some direction. You seem to have resources with no clear target. When i first started i was very similar sold a lot started again got rid of custies had loads of ideas and ended up earning nothing. Its difficult to do when you have a good imagination but you need to pick one direction and stop thinking so much and have some stickability. Im going through this process myself. I had a round worth 13k a month now worth 8.5k. because as it turned out people didnt pay, canvassers got in rubbish work and i had what looked like a nice round that made no money because i was always shelling out. So i sold a bit to raise a few quid and dumped nearly 4k worth of work and down scaled a vehicle and EVEN staff, and now make more money. I will build slowly but have stopped setting stupid targets of 2k a month of new work as the quality deminishes. your idea of a maintenance plan could work i know someone who does it with carpets and this adds an extra 50k a year of regular work for his staff but that will be a slow process or very expensive as you will need good sales staff.
 i would make what you have an elite and very smoothly run business and then start the new thing as time goes on. I dont say alot on here normally as people are quick to raise the dagger or take offence so this post is simply from my personal experience.

[Nameless Drudge]

I don`t know from experience but hold the opinion(gained from this forum) that the issues you are encountering from your customers is exactly what to expect from newly canvassed work,and that as it settles you might keep 1 in 2 as long term regulars.I`d never pay a canvasser.

[GDwindowcleaning]

Thats a very strong opinion for someone with no experience, if canvassed properly work will stick for years....

[mike roberts]

Iv been pondering targeting executive style houses as Im sick to death of effort of chasing round small sums of money and people saying can ya leave it this time on a six weekly schedule. I was thinking of targeting these larger properties for les frequent cleaning but offering gutter clearing,UPC cleaning,conservatory roof cleaning,driveway cleaning and internals and breaking down a figure and get them to pay monthly direct debit instead of shelling out for each seperate job in one go.

Does anyone offer this type of service, it's a bit more of a home maintenance service than window cleaning, I would be planning to offer a much more high class service with set dates,overshoes etc when doing internals,

Suppose it's a bit like home serve the plumbing company but for cleaning requirements

Richy,
I think you are right to target these types of properties initially for wc then offer other services.
Would be very surprised if  any owners would be prepared to pay monthly maint cost simply down to the price, if it includes everything i.e. roof drive etc. atleast £250 /mth +
Far more likely to just have windows and spend as required trick is to make sure the person they call is you   when they require these additional services... How you do that well !

Just b4 xmas cleaned conservatory for a customer had for yrs... we contact them atleast 3 times a year promoting services, everything we cover... . I  mentioned the condition of their roof ie covered in moss and the service we provide..... He did not realise we offered this service ...  we have bi-fold full colour brochures breaking down this service, he has recieved atleast two  ... have now managed to book his roof clean in for early March  

I am now changing our approach each new customer gained, where possible ask for a sit down to run thro all our services 1 to 1   Hopefuuly then the point will be made .. contact us!!

[richywilts]

mike i agree thats how i started out small round with customers buying into my other services some of which actually pay better than window cleaning like fascia and gutter cleaning i used to clean them with help of another lad and because i carried out the work i knew it was too an excellent standard, since takin on staff standards have dropped, crap work has been brought in to ensure enough work for lads etc but over time customers drop like flys for many reasons, my heads been up my arse last year with two break ins and i admit im running a million things thru my mind trying to find an answer to solve a huge problem. everyone sees it as im changing my mind every day what i want im just stressing coz iv got overheads im tied into and lads who are expecting work and we now only have enough work for two of us probably but i dont wana downsize then start all over again, im confident we can get back on track once we have a sound business idea to go after and focus on last 7 months have been focussing on getting by doing what we can.

[richywilts]

It sounds like your business needs some direction. You seem to have resources with no clear target. When i first started i was very similar sold a lot started again got rid of custies had loads of ideas and ended up earning nothing. Its difficult to do when you have a good imagination but you need to pick one direction and stop thinking so much and have some stickability. Im going through this process myself. I had a round worth 13k a month now worth 8.5k. because as it turned out people didnt pay, canvassers got in rubbish work and i had what looked like a nice round that made no money because i was always shelling out. So i sold a bit to raise a few quid and dumped nearly 4k worth of work and down scaled a vehicle and EVEN staff, and now make more money. I will build slowly but have stopped setting stupid targets of 2k a month of new work as the quality deminishes. your idea of a maintenance plan could work i know someone who does it with carpets and this adds an extra 50k a year of regular work for his staff but that will be a slow process or very expensive as you will need good sales staff.
 i would make what you have an elite and very smoothly run business and then start the new thing as time goes on. I dont say alot on here normally as people are quick to raise the dagger or take offence so this post is simply from my personal experience.

your position sounds very similar to mine to be fair i dont want to downsize etc though, like ive just said in previous post im confident i have resources i have chris working for me who has an excellent sales background in making deals, what i find problem is though he used to work off warm leads made for him he didnt actually make the lead and i think he struggles getting to decision maker thats why i think this could be an opportunity for us as he only has to get to the homeowner not past secretary than passed to facility manager who then has to approach his boss etc etc as you get in commercial.

its an idea which il look into we have a few very nice affluent areas nearby.

the reason im also looking into this is my lads who clean are good hardworking lads who prefer to graft hard and when there going round small 3 bed semis being told to leave it this time and filling in paperwork such as daily logs etc in and out the van evry 20-30 minutes its a ballache for them theyd much prefer to get out the van and smash 3-4 hours of work n keep busy

[richywilts]

Iv been pondering targeting executive style houses as Im sick to death of effort of chasing round small sums of money and people saying can ya leave it this time on a six weekly schedule. I was thinking of targeting these larger properties for les frequent cleaning but offering gutter clearing,UPC cleaning,conservatory roof cleaning,driveway cleaning and internals and breaking down a figure and get them to pay monthly direct debit instead of shelling out for each seperate job in one go.

Does anyone offer this type of service, it's a bit more of a home maintenance service than window cleaning, I would be planning to offer a much more high class service with set dates,overshoes etc when doing internals,

Suppose it's a bit like home serve the plumbing company but for cleaning requirements

Richy,
I think you are right to target these types of properties initially for wc then offer other services.
Would be very surprised if  any owners would be prepared to pay monthly maint cost simply down to the price, if it includes everything i.e. roof drive etc. atleast £250 /mth +
Far more likely to just have windows and spend as required trick is to make sure the person they call is you   when they require these additional services... How you do that well !

Just b4 xmas cleaned conservatory for a customer had for yrs... we contact them atleast 3 times a year promoting services, everything we cover... . I  mentioned the condition of their roof ie covered in moss and the service we provide..... He did not realise we offered this service ...  we have bi-fold full colour brochures breaking down this service, he has recieved atleast two  ... have now managed to book his roof clean in for early March  

I am now changing our approach each new customer gained, where possible ask for a sit down to run thro all our services 1 to 1   Hopefuuly then the point will be made .. contact us!!

mike what size operation do you run, we ve done quite a bit of pressure washing but iv never really pushed it as being an expert in the field as im not that confident even though iv carried out over a 100 cleans on drives iv done 4 roof coats but decided against pushing it as found it a ballache

[dave f]

dot take this the wrong way why dont you concentrate on the one thing your good at instead of being jack of all trades wasting time and money on gear you may only use once ina while .dump the crap and keep your sanity feels great getting rid of numptys ive just got shot of a boat load ,some one elses head ache now. good look

[Nameless Drudge]

Regular window cleaning,well priced,good payers,it doesn`t get any better than that so heading off in any other direction at all is a compromise.
      If a full round of  well priced regular work isn`t the objective then you`ll never get there. Don`t be bothering with the distractions.

[Nameless Drudge]

Thats a very strong opinion for someone with no experience, if canvassed properly work will stick for years....

I`ll base my opinions on information given freely by actual working window cleaners  not from people with a sales background sniffing round forums for canvassing opportunities. Then of course there is my own sales experience of the "numbers game".

I have strong opinions which under detailed scrutiny are correct.

[mike roberts]

You might see from previous posts.. we have moved away from domestic / office daily cleans hence reduced staff due to recession / return / profits.
Now run two vans three full time staff plus four casual workers, taken time but four casual workers are great no question with quality. As we build up again loking to take them on full time. Its a vicious circle trying to keep everyone busy with quality work. Still considering really moving into wc side currently run WFP trolley for Building cleans a few schools + one offs  
Wish you the best.

[Ian101]

 i just hate wasting time with scummy arse customers which we tend to have a lot of now,


coz i paying someone to chase them 2 or 3 times for payment.

Hi Richy .... I grew my customer base by 65 new customers last year but prob more like 125 as dumped all the dross as I went now I have NO non payers and very few that get to 2 cleans if any at all cos I went thru the painful job of dropping the scum last year ... your 2 comments quoted above sums up just what you dont want or need in your business.

If I was you I would bin em all now and canvass some proper customers be em big houses or small houses so long as they pay and the job is priced right then you cant go wrong

anyway you know this already ... you just need to get it sorted

[bobplum]

i still don't understand this allowing of 2 or 3 cleans and owing payment not just richy but a lot of people on here,if they owe one and you have chased it a little come the next clean knock no answer don't clean move on and don't clean till its paid.
my debt ratio to work is no more than 5%

[Pope vader]

richy

the best thing you can do is look at ur business and dump the crap and just have you and a lad in 1 van making money,  just do the best jobs and the ones that pay

you are the same as a mate of mine, who every time you meet him he ahs started a new business or is heading in a different direction,  i ahve know him 2 years he has gone form 4 vans, to him on his own,  he has started a proerty maninentance company to run along side his window cleaning business, because a custy asked him did he know a plumber,  that failed,  then then decided to have a commercial arm for the business, all becasue he got 1 contract in cornwall, rented offices, started web sites, etc, didnt get work, as was too expensive,   he then started a van signage business, because he can make 20 k a month,

i know he owes the back 17k business loans, and has only being going 3 years

just stick to one thing

is that not called Enterprising ?
Maybe he's not happy being a window cleaner and is looking for what does it for him.

I agree with have a focused plan for Richy and a post above about having a mixture of houses is spot on, but you have to give it to Richy at least he try's and sometimes fails(gets unlucky on some things), others on here say it cant work and never try anything then moan when other people make it.

i understand what you say about enterprising,  but starting a business on a whim, then failing is not enterprising to me,

[Ian101]

i still don't understand this allowing of 2 or 3 cleans and owing payment not just richy but a lot of people on here,if they owe one and you have chased it a little come the next clean knock no answer don't clean move on and don't clean till its paid.
my debt ratio to work is no more than 5%

5% .... TOO HIGH 

so your debt list must be about £500 then wot with your £10000 round 

[Window Washers]

It sounds like your business needs some direction. You seem to have resources with no clear target. When i first started i was very similar sold a lot started again got rid of custies had loads of ideas and ended up earning nothing. Its difficult to do when you have a good imagination but you need to pick one direction and stop thinking so much and have some stickability. Im going through this process myself. I had a round worth 13k a month now worth 8.5k. because as it turned out people didnt pay, canvassers got in rubbish work and i had what looked like a nice round that made no money because i was always shelling out. So i sold a bit to raise a few quid and dumped nearly 4k worth of work and down scaled a vehicle and EVEN staff, and now make more money. I will build slowly but have stopped setting stupid targets of 2k a month of new work as the quality deminishes. your idea of a maintenance plan could work i know someone who does it with carpets and this adds an extra 50k a year of regular work for his staff but that will be a slow process or very expensive as you will need good sales staff.
 i would make what you have an elite and very smoothly run business and then start the new thing as time goes on. I dont say alot on here normally as people are quick to raise the dagger or take offence so this post is simply from my personal experience.

You should post more often, it is nice to read

[Richard iSparkle]

 i just hate wasting time with scummy arse customers which we tend to have a lot of now,


coz i paying someone to chase them 2 or 3 times for payment.

Hi Richy .... I grew my customer base by 65 new customers last year but prob more like 125 as dumped all the dross as I went now I have NO non payers and very few that get to 2 cleans if any at all cos I went thru the painful job of dropping the scum last year ... your 2 comments quoted above sums up just what you dont want or need in your business.

If I was you I would bin em all now and canvass some proper customers be em big houses or small houses so long as they pay and the job is priced right then you cant go wrong

anyway you know this already ... you just need to get it sorted

hey ian,

we're probably the same as you in terms of number of new clients taken on and lost/culled.  i was shocked to see it's nearly 40% dropoff of customers from us over the first 6 months, but after that we're just left with the good ones.

i think that now we charge double for 1st clean and only offer standing order as  the payment method, we should sift out a lot of bad custies before they even start.

[H2GoKent]

I think the post was about Executive boxes (oops sorry houses).
I find that many of the people who live in these have less disposable income than a lot of owners of smaller homes.

In the 9 years I've been doing this I have found the best, most profitable resi work is often a run of small places in a row.

A lot of windys target the bigger houses, some of my custys have been canvassed a few times every month.
A lot of windys see these big places and think 'Wow they've got loads of dosh' whereas what a lot of them have is a big mortgage, with sometimes an ego to match.

You will get non-payers most places sometimes, the worst I had was in a well off area of large houses.

As some others have said new work is always problematic until it's honed down to the decent payers and reliable customers, it takes time.

When you first canvas you pick up all the awkward so and so's the other windys have dropped. 
And they always say things like , 'Oh I'm glad you've called it's really hard to get a window cleaner round here'  and after a month or two you know why they can't get one 

[richywilts]

I think the post was about Executive boxes (oops sorry houses).
I find that many of the people who live in these have less disposable income than a lot of owners of smaller homes.

In the 9 years I've been doing this I have found the best, most profitable resi work is often a run of small places in a row.

A lot of windys target the bigger houses, some of my custys have been canvassed a few times every month.
A lot of windys see these big places and think 'Wow they've got loads of dosh' whereas what a lot of them have is a big mortgage, with sometimes an ego to match.

You will get non-payers most places sometimes, the worst I had was in a well off area of large houses.

As some others have said new work is always problematic until it's honed down to the decent payers and reliable customers, it takes time.

When you first canvas you pick up all the awkward so and so's the other windys have dropped. 
And they always say things like , 'Oh I'm glad you've called it's really hard to get a window cleaner round here'  and after a month or two you know why they can't get one 

I understand what ur saying hence the reason I mentioned about setting up standing orders monthly but only cleaning every quarter so smaller payments, these houses I'm looking to target are the 1-6 million type pads so sure they have money

[H2GoKent]

Interesting idea about the standing order monthly/clean quarterly. That bit might work.
But I say again that often the most profitable work isn't always in the obvious places like 'big houses'
If you think about it, some of these people own these houses cos they are very good with money, and know how to hold onto it.
Even people with loads don't just chuck it about because they have it. They still know a fair price when they see it.
Some of my wealthiest customers are the tightest.
But I suppose the benefit could be you need less of them to make a decent round, but of course they take longer cos they're bigger.
But you could sell them a quality service, they wd pay extra for that...

[bobplum]

i still don't understand this allowing of 2 or 3 cleans and owing payment not just richy but a lot of people on here,if they owe one and you have chased it a little come the next clean knock no answer don't clean move on and don't clean till its paid.
my debt ratio to work is no more than 5%

5% .... TOO HIGH 

so your debt list must be about £500 then wot with your £10000 round 

10k a month pal and your still looking up at me with envy

[bobplum]

Iv been pondering targeting executive style houses as Im sick to death of effort of chasing round small sums of money and people saying can ya leave it this time on a six weekly schedule. I was thinking of targeting these larger properties for les frequent cleaning but offering gutter clearing,UPC cleaning,conservatory roof cleaning,driveway cleaning and internals and breaking down a figure and get them to pay monthly direct debit instead of shelling out for each seperate job in one go.

Does anyone offer this type of service, it's a bit more of a home maintenance service than window cleaning, I would be planning to offer a much more high class service with set dates,overshoes etc when doing internals,

Suppose it's a bit like home serve the plumbing company but for cleaning requirements

were about on the wesy are these

[richywilts]

BERWICK ROAD BOB MEADOWBANK AREA!!!!!!!

[Gav Camm lammy 283]

BERWICK ROAD BOB MEADOWBANK AREA!!!!!!!

richy i do all that area m8
fr number 1 / 1001 keep off my patch 

[Darranvps]

I pay 120 pounds for my luxury mansion cleaning two or three times a year!

[bobplum]

BERWICK ROAD BOB MEADOWBANK AREA!!!!!!!

you wont get past the guards